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How to Evacuate Before a Storm or Flood

In an evacuation, you need to be ruthlessly efficient. Grab the kids and pets, then gas up and go!

Aug 25, 2017

Jon Blair - Flickr CC

What do you do when you know the flooding of your home is imminent, and what happens when the water recedes and you come home? PM's editors tell you what you need to know about preparation and recovery when it comes to your home, your gadgets and your car.

Take The Most Important Stuff First

All hard copies of important financial, health, school, insurance, and family information must be packed and ready to go. If it's near and dear to you, like pictures of your kids and parents, take it. But for the most part, take only the stuff you are sure you can't live without. Along with securing all vital records and maybe a piece of memorabilia or two, remember to get any medications and the family first aid kit. Next comes clothing, basic necessities like a kit of hand tools and valuables.

In an evacuation, you need to be ruthlessly efficient. Unless you've rented a full-size moving van, and have the time and help to load it, you won't have as much room as you think to transport everything you'd like. If all you've got is a pickup truck, you're going to have to be pretty efficient—with a car, even more so. That's what makes an evacuation different from an ordinary move across state lines: A lot of important possessions will stay behind.

Digital Prep

Make sure you don't lose all your important digital files, either. Back up your computer, your phone and any other devices you have to an external hard drive, and make sure to take the drive with you. Or, even better, use an off-board cloud-based backup service such as Mozy to back up your files. If your files are on the cloud and you don't have to grab extra disks and drives, that's one less thing to worry about while hurriedly packing up the car.

If you can take your devices (and their chargers), do so. Anything you leave behind should be migrated to an upper floor and tied off in contractor bags.

Securing The Structure

The worst thing that can happen to a structure is that it's flooded with the electricity still flowing and utilities turned on. So the last thing you need to do before you head out the door is kill the power and shut off the gas. Throw the main electrical disconnect at the service panel; it's nothing more than a switch. Turn off natural gas at the meter by turning the stubby metal projection on the valve near the meter. Use an adjustable wrench or a meter wrench to do this and turn it 90 degrees, either clockwise or counterclockwise, whichever is easier for you. If you have propane gas, close the shutoff valve at the tank underneath the tank cover. If you have questions about how to do either, contact your gas supplier. (And never attempt to turn gas back on after a flood; that's strictly the job of your utility or propane supplier.)

If there's any hope that the flooding will be minor (yes, a contradiction in terms), move as much as you can to higher floors. Again, start with the most important stuff. If it's likely that the structure will be submerged to the eaves, though, there's not much else to do. An attic only has so much room, and moving belongings into it is not practical in most cases.

Also, you might consider removing anything that will leave behind a particularly nasty mess. For example, get the barrel of pool chlorine out of the garage, along with cans of gasoline, and empty the refrigerator's contents into trash bags. The stench from a flooded house is bad enough, let alone the odor given off from a refrigerator lying on its side and filled with rotten food.

When You Come Home

Federal and state authorities will keep an area off-limits until it's been thoroughly inspected and secured by utility crews and other emergency workers. Take it seriously, and don't try to break in—authorities, often on the lookout for looters, don't like unauthorized entrants.

The utility company may send crews around to pull the electrical meter face from each house. This prevents people from being electrocuted in a flooded basement (or elsewhere in the house) when the power is restored. It also reduces the likelihood of electrical fires developing as the grid comes back into operation and people try to return to their lives, though the house's electrical equipment remains damaged.

Never go into a flooded basement with the meter face still intact. It's unlikely that the grid would be energized while you're down there fishing around trying to rig up a pump, but it's not worth taking the risk. Assuming the meter face is removed, wear chest waders even if the water is only, say, knee-deep, and bring a bright flashlight. Take your time. The floor will be as slippery as a skating rink.

That note of caution goes for the rest of the home, too. A flooded house is almost as dangerous as one that's on fire. Floors are slimy and slippery, and stuff is lying all over the place, ready to tangle your feet.

To Salvage Or Not To Salvage

There's no formula for salvaging a flooded house. A lot depends on your point of view, your physical capacity, how much time you have to tend to the structure and the extent of the flood damage.

Aside from a sump pump, there isn't anything in a house that's meant to withstand being submerged in water. You'll need to replace any electrical wiring, switches, outlet receptacles, and lighting fixtures that were submerged. In almost all cases, the same applies to any appliance or heating and cooling equipment. In rare instances, heating and cooling equipment may be repaired and returned to service. A qualified technician can evaluate the equipment and tell you whether it's possible, but replacing the equipment is usually the more cost-effective move anyway. Equipment that's been thoroughly submerged has a bad reputation for being unreliable. The National Electrical Manufacturer's Assocation (NEMA) provides a handy checklist about what to save, what to replace and what might be salvaged.

As for your gadgets, there may not be much hope if they've gotten soaked thoroughly, but don't write them off immediately, because it's worth a shot to try to save them. The most important thing with a wet gadget is not to immediately turn it on. Many devices, whether they're as basic as a TV remote or as complex as a laptop computer, can actually survive a soaking; it's only when electricity is introduced into the equation while components are still wet that they're actually destroyed.

As soon as possible, place a damp gadget in a well-ventilated area, or, if possible, under or next to a running fan. For devices that can be opened or have a reasonable degree of internal air circulation, 48 hours should be enough. Closed, complicated gadgets should be left for up to a week. For smaller gadgets, like MP3 players or phones, survival odds can be improved with submersion in a bowl of uncooked rice or silica gel packets—items that will soak up water.

Dealing With A Flooded Car

First, find the waterline. If it's not immediately visible, look for water inside the doors and the taillights, and dampness in the carpets and interior trim. If you know how high the water rose, you'll know how much you need to clean.

Frankly, if the water has reached as high as the dashboard (especially if it's salt water), you're probably better off trying to talk the insurance adjuster into totaling it and getting another car.

If you're going to clean up the car, however, the first thing to remember (as with gadget recovery) is not to try to start it, which will compound the damage. Check your oil and transmission dipsticks for water, and if you find any, change the oil and filter. (You'd be smart to remove the oil pan and wash out the mud, too.) Check the fuel line for water, too; if you find it, you'll probably need to replace the fuel filter. Wheel bearings and constant velocity joints will need to be cleaned and repacked.

Then, move on to the hard and dirty work of home recovery. That means cutting away damaged drywall and exposing wall and ceiling cavities to permit air movement and drying. Wall-to-wall carpet needs to be cut away, rolled up and disposed of as rapidly as possible.

Do whatever you need to do to get soggy contents out of the house. Use fans to keep air moving inside. Constantly patrol for mildew, which will grow in anyplace you can think of, and probably others.

Also be prepared for creeping damage as things dry out—even items that were not flooded but were exposed to the unusually high humidity in a flood zone. Doors will warp; plywood subflooring will bubble up; vinyl flooring will peel away. Just when you feel like you've got things under control, the house will seem to take on a life of its own.

But remember, eventually you'll beat back the damage. Receding floodwaters also reveal hope.

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